‘Solutions can’t be solely determined by any one country’

Ottawa’s new ambassador to U.S. urges an end to protectionism, trade wars

OTTAWA— Amidst a global scramble for medical supplies and a clampdown on travel, Canada’s new ambassador to the United States says no country will get through the COVID-19 pandemic alone.

Newly named to a country intent on putting up walls and charting its own course through the crisis, Kirsten Hillman added her voice to a chorus of leaders — including from the United Nations and World Health Organization — calling on nations to band together to confront the deadly coronavirus at a time when the world is already riven by trade wars and nationalist protectionism.

“This isn’t a health situation that is going to respect any borders. We’ve seen that. It’s obvious. And the solutions can’t be solely determined by any one country,” Kirsten Hillman, Canada’s ambassador to the U.S., told the Star by phone on Thursday. “There is no doubt that international co-operation is going to be essential to getting the globe out of this crisis.”

Hillman takes over — she served as acting ambassador since last summer — facing a global pandemic that she said is “by far the biggest priority” for Canada’s diplomatic corps in the U.S. Topping her concerns is the need to keep crucial goods like food and medicine flowing over the Canada-U.S. border, as news emerged Thursday that U.S. officials were considering sending troops to the border with Canada. The White House reportedly backed off the idea after Canadian officials objected.

The push for openness is shared by the Liberal government in Ottawa, which was attacked Thursday by the Conservative Opposition over a decision to ship 16 tonnes of much-needed medical equipment to China in February.

Speaking on Parliament Hill, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said Canada agrees with the need to protect its citizens first. But she voiced concern that the pandemic will cause countries to turn inward as borders close and nations race to acquire critical medical supplies and treatments for the new coronavirus.

“Every country quite rightly needs to focus first and foremost on the health and safety of its own people. And that is what our government is doing, and we do that with no apology — in fact with real conviction.” Freeland said.

“Having said that … at the end of the day, the reality of a global pandemic is that it is global, and the long-term lesson that we should be learning from all of this is how important international co-operation is,” she said.

But with the rise of U.S. President Donald Trump and a current of populist nationalism rolling across Europe and countries like India and Brazil, the COVID -19 crisis has gripped the world just as major forums of global co-operation have become less reliable and increasingly fraught.

This week, foreign ministers’ from the G7 — including Canada’s François-Philippe Champagne — couldn’t agree on a joint communiqué after a conference call about the pandemic. The German magazine Der Spiegel reported co-operation was scuttled by American demands to call the disease the “Wuhan virus” — a descriptor that many worry will contribute to the stigmatization of the disease and to racism against Chinese people.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took part in a video conference with leaders from the G20, a virtual summit hosted by Saudi Arabia, which is engaged in an oil supply spat with Russia that has cratered oil prices around the world. As the United Nations appealed for $2 billion (U.S.) in aid for the poorest countries to confront the pandemic, the video conference did not produce new financial commitments. Instead, a joint statement stressed the need to “contain the pandemic and protect people, especially the most vulnerable.”

“There’s a striking absence of global leadership, even a monumental failure,” said Roland Paris, a professor of international relations at the University of Ottawa.